Walking Dead on AMC improves on comic, revives zombie fiction… again

AMC's adaptation of Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead is a striking, high-quality …

The first episode of AMC's TV adaptation of Walking Dead is better than the comics it's adapting. I don't say that to slight Robert Kirkman's writing, just to point out that the show has the advantage of years and years of excellent comics to draw from. In the first issues of a comic, everyone, including the creators, are often in the dark about who the characters are and where they're going. The first episode of the TV show can be much more confident when it comes to characterization and pacing.

A warning: we're going to talk about the show in detail, so if you haven't seen it yet, there will be some items people may consider spoilers.

These are people, not props

Rick Grimes is a good cop with a few relationship problems. But, after getting shot and waking up in a hospital that seems to have gone to hell... he has much bigger problems to deal with. The dead don't seem to stay that way for one, and there seem to be no other people alive. He rides a bike to his old house, finds his family missing, is then attacked by a child, and sees what appears to be a person get shot in the head in cold blood. This is the new world, where violence is commonplace and humans are feared nearly as much as the zombies.

He wakes up in the care of a man and his child, Morgan and Duane Jones, and they explain what happened, or at least the details they know. Don't get bit, they warn him, or you'll get a fever that "burns you out." Then you come back and become like the ones outside. No one says the Zed-word, and Grimes seems to be skeptical of this new reality, peeking out the window to get a look at the "walkers."

What's interesting is that Morgan and his son Duane don't fear the zombies, they simply respect them the same way an experienced sailor fears the sea. The zombies are the ones in charge now. You stay quiet, keep the noises down, make sure they don't see your light, and you'll be fine. The zombies, at this point, aren't scary as much as they're to be pitied. "I'm sorry this happened to you," Grimes tells one of them, a woman crawling on naked leg bones, before putting a bullet through her head.

His wife and son are alive, he reasons, because who else would take only clothes and photo albums from the house? Morgan tells him there are survivors and a military presence in Atlanta, and it's there we discover just how dangerous the new world has become.

It's not about the zombies

For a first episode, this is stunning. It looks much more like a film than a TV show, and it doesn't rush to get where its going; each character is given time to breathe and comes to life before the show moves them down their respective paths. Reading the first two issues of the comics after watching the first episode of the show makes it feel as if the comics are moving at a blistering pace. This is a rare piece of horror entertainment—what the characters say and how they act are as important as what they do.

The Walking Dead has always been a dark series, and the show is just as dour. The camera never pans away from the gore, but neither does it seem titillated by it. Scenes of violence are shot straight on, daring you to blink. So far, the expected horror tropes have mostly been avoided. Instead, you're watching capable, human characters dealing with an impossible situation. "Don't pull the trigger unless you mean it," Grimes tells Duane when it's decided the child is going to learn how to use firearms. I hope you believe me when I say I'm not giving anything away when I aver that fans of the comic are going to have a hard time not wincing at that line.

Walking Dead

I watched the 90-minute pilot with a group of four friends, and I was the only one who had read the comic books. The mood was funereal after the first few minutes, and the show does a great job of giving you a sense of dread and weight as you watch. The pilot ends with a light cliffhanger, and the time zipped by very quickly. Adaptations can be hit or miss, and Robert Kirkman has written in the letters section of his comics often about wanting to do the Walking Dead correctly if it was ever brought to television. He has nothing to fear; this is an amazing first act of what promises to be a first-class show.

If you've read the comics, you'll be able to have interesting conversations about what has been changed and why; conversely, if you're new to the world, there is nothing holding you back from enjoying every minute of the show.

If you've kept up with the comics you know how many possible locations, characters, and plot lines the show has to choose from. Sadly, almost all of them end with bad news for characters you'll learn to care about very quickly.

Walking Dead can be found on AMC every Sunday at 10pm. We'll be giving away a full set of the hardcover graphic novels, signed by Robert Kirkman, in our yearly Child's Play fundraiser.

90 Reader Comments

I read the comic for about the first 15 issues and watched the show last night and i thought they did a great job. I guess i need to start picking up the graphic novels with my weekly borders/B&H *% off coupons.

Such as when Rick wakes up in the hospital, and enters the unlit stairwell and has lighting matches to see. His third match doesn't reveal a 'zombie' about to attack. Its fresh to actually have nothing happen, it feels almost Japanese

Wow -- thanks for covering this Ars. I've been a fan ever since issue one of TWD came out, love this comic...one of the best I've ever read, and I've been reading comics for over 25 years. Also great how you point out that the zombies are the vehicle that is used to drive the character's development, and not the main reason for the comic. It's hard to believe that something this cool has actually been made into a TV show...lets hope it goes on for a few years...at least until season two when Michone comes in -- she's an amazing character.

There was another comic in the eighties that was very similar to this called Dead World by Vince Locke, but it only lasted for a few years, it re-started a few times but could never keep going.

Here's to hoping that Kirkman can keep this going for many many years to come...and if I may geek out a little more -- please give us the black and white version of the show on the DVD/Blu-Ray boxed sets!!

I was really looking forward to this just by the trailer. Never knew it was a comic till I started looking up stuff online after watching the first EP.

One thing that surprised me is how they did not shy away from gore in the least. And what gore there was it was done well. I don't think it was over the top nor was there tons of it. Just enough used at appropriate times.

Another refreshing thing is the plot seams more about the people who have survived not the zombies themselves. How they survive in the world of chaos they now live in. I think it draws you in a lot more this way. At least it did for me.

Spoiler: show

Also children as zombies! And they kill them! No Im' not like some crazed sicko that wants tons of this. It is just something that has always been missing from zombie movies/shows/games that is perfectly logical to exist and never has.

I'm also asuming there are other Zombies around, as they have defined Walkers quite well. I want to see what else was out there.

ANd the tank scene? I was like SHOOT, NO WAIT TANK!!!! Then, well, it was just perfect.

Overall the whole "the world is gone, and the zombies are out there" theme was just well played. You felt that there really wasn't left of the world... and what is left... isn't going to be too helpful.

I'm a Steelers fan, and I found myself missing substantial parts of the game last night. This series has the potential to be the first tv show in 10 years around which I plan real-world activities. Very well done.

Great episode. Loved how Darabont expanded on the comic. I'm a huge TWD fan and couldn't have been happier. That said, I have absolutely NO IDEA how this series will be able to show some of the more extreme images/scenes from the comics. Other TWD fans will know what I mean.

Looks good, although the 'waking up alone in a hospital' has been done to death, and it looks like there are shades of 28 days in there.

Right, to the torrents.

True, but the comic came out about a year after 28 Days Later, and Kirkman has said that the beginning where Rick wakes up in the hospital was written well before 28 Days came out...take that as you wish.

Looks good, although the 'waking up alone in a hospital' has been done to death, and it looks like there are shades of 28 days in there.

Right, to the torrents.

True, but the comic came out about a year after 28 Days Later, and Kirkman has said that the beginning where Rick wakes up in the hospital was written well before 28 Days came out...take that as you wish.

Sounds like a good series. If it turns out good enough, I'll probably spring for the inevitable DVD/BS box set when it comes out. TV is just too 'unreliable' these days for me to commit to a show as it airs (preempting, moving schedules, commercials, those little pop up ads they put over the show, etc.).

As part of my Halloween enjoyment, this past weekend, I really enjoyed the High School of the Dead anime series. It has an awesome mix of serious and straight zombie action/horror with a good powdering of fan service, comedy and amazing art work. Very cool.

I was really looking forward to this just by the trailer. Never knew it was a comic till I started looking up stuff online after watching the first EP.

One thing that surprised me is how they did not shy away from gore in the least. And what gore there was it was done well. I don't think it was over the top nor was there tons of it. Just enough used at appropriate times.

Another refreshing thing is the plot seams more about the people who have survived not the zombies themselves. How they survive in the world of chaos they now live in. I think it draws you in a lot more this way. At least it did for me.

Spoiler: show

Also children as zombies! And they kill them! No Im' not like some crazed sicko that wants tons of this. It is just something that has always been missing from zombie movies/shows/games that is perfectly logical to exist and never has.

As for the spoiler...

Spoiler: show

They did kill a child zombie in 28 Days later. In the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, an infant zombie was done in. But I know what you mean - in most zombie movies, it's as if all of the children just disappeared from the planet. I can't say that it ever bothered me, or that I really wanted to see it, or that I really gave it a lot of thought - but it's a hole, for sure.

As for the review... good review, and it sounds like a show I'd actually like to watch. For the first time in several years, it makes we wish that I had cable.

I never even knew this was based on a comic, and I'm generally not a fan of zombie stuff. That said, I really enjoyed the pilot and will stick around as long as it doesn't devolve into the usual sort of tiresome "brainzzzz....brainzzzz" shlock that gives the hipsters at BoingBoing boners.

I was especially amazed at the graphic quality of the show. Not turned-off. Just amazed to see so much blood spilled by a basic-cable channel.

Hopefully, the producers have the smarts to stick to a definite focused story arc, and then call it quits once they've accomplished it.

I was quite happy with the show, although when he was riding his horse into Atlanta and the in to town freeway was completely empty, while the out of town freeway was completely full of abandoned cars... yeah that should have told him everything he needed to know. I would have turned around right there.

Having every issue of the books thus far, I was a bit skeptical, but after watching it last night both for my own curiosity and with someone who had no preconceived notions of it, we were both quite pleased. The scene between Rick and the other father were they were 'dealing' with their respective zombie moments (if you saw it you know what I am referring to) was amamzingly sad. The music cues are subtle but poignant and the overall sense of despair is palpable. I hope this stays around for a while.

Is there any place to watch this online? I can't stay awake until 11:30 on a Sunday night It doesn't look like Hulu has it and the AMC website only has recaps.

Few posts up someone mentioned that Amazon VOD has it. I was able to download the episode and watch it this morning (I don't have cable, and am not willing to pay for it for one channel), I wish AMC had a TWD donation fund, I'd give them money directly just to help keep this show going. Very nice to see that Amazon has it as well as possibly iTunes, that's where I'll be getting it from now on.

I found it a bit slow myself. I can understand the pacing since they're not trying to do it in the 2-hour time frame of a movie. However, you still have to keep the interest of those who aren't going to automatically watch it because they read the graphic novels. I did like the ending though.

I am worried about later, if they keep the series going, when it can get a bit tedious between attacks. The interpersonal dynamics are integral to TWD, but people want to see zombies. Even the readers will write in and start to complain when there aren't enough zombies! When your readers complain, you can joke about it, and reassure them that there are, indeed, zombies on the way. When viewers do it, you get cancelled, and I don't want TWD to be cancelled.

Turned this on at 9PM last night, and turned it off 15 minutes later. What was in it? There was the first two minutes of one girl zombie, and the rest nothing but chatter. wtf? I didn't want to watch people nagging each other, I want to watch a zombie show.

Turned this on at 9PM last night, and turned it off 15 minutes later. What was in it? There was the first two minutes of one girl zombie, and the rest nothing but chatter. wtf? I didn't want to watch people nagging each other, I want to watch a zombie show.

1/10

Then you have no knowldge of the source material is my guess. This is a human drama with zombies at the periphery of everything. There wil be hge amounts of gore and atacks and whatnot, but the real meat of it is in the interactions. However, if you want just a staright up zombie show, then you may very well be disappointed.

Glad you thought it was good, and thanks for the spoiler warning so I stopped reading

My sis was always saying the books were good and when I saw it coming up on FX I went out and bought the first two. Finished them shortly after. Loved it and I'm trying to decide whether to read them all before watching any of the show or just keep the books ahead of the show (I'm assuming they're doing about one book per show?

Turned this on at 9PM last night, and turned it off 15 minutes later. What was in it? There was the first two minutes of one girl zombie, and the rest nothing but chatter. wtf? I didn't want to watch people nagging each other, I want to watch a zombie show.

1/10

Then you have no knowldge of the source material is my guess. This is a human drama with zombies at the periphery of everything. There wil be hge amounts of gore and atacks and whatnot, but the real meat of it is in the interactions. However, if you want just a staright up zombie show, then you may very well be disappointed.

Exactly, didn't know it was based off a comic Just had co-workers coming over saying an awesome zombie series starts on halloween! Ugh.

Turned this on at 9PM last night, and turned it off 15 minutes later. What was in it? There was the first two minutes of one girl zombie, and the rest nothing but chatter. wtf? I didn't want to watch people nagging each other, I want to watch a zombie show.

1/10

Killing zombies, killing zombies, followed by more killing zombies has been done to death, I'm glad this is not that. (I also have no knowledge of the source material)

That said, I encourage you to watch the whole episode before making up your mind.

must watch this on VOD. I'll start d/ling it when I go home for lunch.Personally, Goofball, I *like* those three things, but there's not enough werewolf movies And 90% of the vampire movies aren't horror; they're action-adventure (Underworld), romances (Twilight), or drama (Interview).

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Hopefully, the producers have the smarts to stick to a definite focused story arc, and then call it quits once they've accomplished it.

This. 1000x this. It's a weakness in a lot of American shows; they have enough juice for a few seasons, but then drag it out way too long and start to suck. See: Family Guy, Simpsons, Buffy, Star Trek TNG, among others.

As someone who works on this show, it's cool to see others enjoying your work. I also didn't know this was based on a comic until much later in the pre-pro process, but now I can say I've worked on a comic! We got some really badass stuff coming in the later episodes that I think you all will like. Thanks again for the awesome words.